Strong rook, strong pawn

by Karsten Müller
6/24/2025 – In the diagram position White is winning because his h-pawn is far advanced and strong. What should White do to make the h-pawn count?
Let endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller show and explain the finesses of the world champions. Although they had different styles each and every one of them played the endgame exceptionally well, so take the opportunity to enjoy and learn from some of the best endgames in the history of chess.
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,185,96054%2421---
1.d4960,10155%2434---
1.Nf3286,72856%2440---
1.c4184,98756%2443---
1.g319,89756%2427---
1.b314,60454%2428---
1.f45,95848%2376---
1.Nc33,91750%2383---
1.b41,79148%2379---
1.a31,25054%2406---
1.e31,08149%2409---
1.d396950%2378---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446654%2382---
1.c343951%2425---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39366%2506---
1.Na34762%2476---
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.0-0 Ba6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 10.Bd2 Re8 11.Rc1 Bf8 12.Qa4 Qc8 13.Ne2 Qb7 14.Qc6 Qxc6 15.Rxc6 Ne4 16.Rfc1 Rad8 17.Be1 Bd6 18.g3 f6 19.h4 Nb8 20.R6c2 c6 21.Nh2 Bf8 22.Nf4 Bd6 23.Ne2 Bf8 24.Kg2 Nd6 25.Nf4 Nb7 26.Nf3 Bd6 27.Nd3 c5 28.dxc5 bxc5 29.Rd1 Nd7 30.b4 c4 31.Nb2 Nb6 32.a4 Bf8 33.a5 Na8 34.a6 Nd6 35.Rxd5 Nb6 36.Ra5 Rc8 37.Nd4 Re5 38.b5 Rc7 39.Kf3 Re8 40.Na4 Nd7 41.Ke2 Kf7 42.g4 Rb8 43.f3 Re8 44.Bg3 Rcc8 45.Nc3 Nc5 46.Bxd6 Bxd6 47.Nc6 Rc7 48.Ra1 Bf8 49.Rd1 Nd3 50.Ne4 Ne5 51.Nd6+ Bxd6 52.Rxd6 Rec8 53.Nxe5+ fxe5 54.b6 axb6 55.Rxb6 c3 56.h5 Rd7 57.h6 g5 58.Rb7 Rxb7 59.axb7 Rb8 60.Rxc3 Rxb7 61.Kd3 Ke6 62.Ra3 Kd5 63.Ra5+ Ke6 64.Ke4 Rb4+ 65.Kd3 Rb3+ 66.Ke2 Rb2+ 67.Kf1 Rb1+ 68.Kg2 Rb2+ 69.Kg3 Rb3 70.Kf2 Rb2+ 71.Kg3 Rb3 72.Ra7 e4 73.Rxh7 Rxe3 Strong rook, strong pawn In the diagram position White is winning because his h-pawn is far advanced and strong. What should White do to make the h-pawn count?
White to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Deac,B2668Aronian,L27471–02025E52GCT Superbet Classic Romania 20252.2

Karsten Mueller in ChessBase Magazine

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Apart from his regular columns and video lectures in ChessBase Magazine there is a whole series of training DVDs by Karsten Mueller, which are bestsellers in the ChessBase Shop.

Karsten Mueller

Karsten Mueller regularly presents endgame lessons in the ChessBase Video Portal

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Topics: ChessBase Magazine, Endgame, Karsten Mueller
Karsten Müller is considered to be one of the greatest endgame experts in the world. His books on the endgame - among them "Fundamentals of Chess Endings", co-authored with Frank Lamprecht, that helped to improve Magnus Carlsen's endgame knowledge - and his endgame columns for the ChessCafe website and the ChessBase Magazine helped to establish and to confirm this reputation. Karsten's Fritztrainer DVDs on the endgame are bestsellers. The mathematician with a PhD lives in Hamburg, and for more than 25 years he has been scoring points for the Hamburger Schachklub (HSK) in the Bundesliga.
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60m How to fight Queen's Pawn Openigns

After 1.d4 d5 many players with White avoid the great amount of theory in the Slav, Semi-Slav, QGA and Orthodox Queen's Gambit and do not therefore play 2.c4. This is not very ambitious, but the painful experience of many chess players has been that the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack and the London System are nevertheless extremely dangerous. Black has to be prepared for each of these openings and IM Valeri Lilov offers you some help with his six instructive videos, in which he demonstrates for each single opening a relevant plan for Black. In addition to the openings mentioned, the Bulgarian trainer also delves into the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.

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